Janne Kuokkanen
Janne Kuokkanen | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 25, 1998 Finland |
| Occupation | Professional ice hockey forward |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Known for | Playing for Malmö Redhawks in the SHL, drafted 43rd overall by Carolina Hurricanes in 2016 NHL Entry Draft |
Janne Kuokkanen (born 25 May 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Malmö Redhawks in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He was selected 43rd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Prior to his tenure with the London Knights in the 2016–17 season, Kuokkanen appeared in one game for Oulun Kärpät in Finland’s Liiga, played once for their affiliate Hokki in the second-tier league, and competed in 47 matches with Kärpät’s U20 squad. In his debut North American campaign with London Knights, he maintained an average exceeding a point per game, tallying 26 goals and accumulating 62 points over 60 contests. On 24 March 2017, Kuokkanen inked a three-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Following London’s playoff elimination, he joined the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, participating in one postseason game.
Kuokkanen started the 2017–18 NHL season on Carolina’s roster but was reassigned to Charlotte on 30 October 2017 after four games without registering a point.
During the 2019–20 AHL campaign, while leading Charlotte with 42 points in 52 appearances, Kuokkanen was traded by Carolina to the New Jersey Devils at the NHL trade deadline on 24 February 2020. He netted his first NHL goal on 30 January 2021 during a shootout defeat against the Buffalo Sabres. On 9 August 2021, Kuokkanen agreed to a two-year contract extension with New Jersey.
On 13 July 2022, the Devils opted to buy out the remaining year of his contract. Shortly thereafter, on 27 July 2022, Kuokkanen signed a one-year agreement with Swiss club HC Fribourg-Gottéron competing in the National League (NL).
On 18 April 2023, Kuokkanen committed to the Malmö Redhawks of the SHL, where he emerged as the team’s leading scorer for that season.
On 3 June 2024, he secured a two-year deal with Lausanne HC of the NL alongside Malmö teammate Lauri Pajuniemi. His season was unfortunately shortened due to an injury necessitating surgery.
On 28 May 2025, Kuokkanen departed Lausanne before completing his contract term and returned to Malmö Redhawks on a four-year contract alongside Pajuniemi.
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2014–15 | Oulun Kärpät | Jr. A | 35 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Oulun Kärpät | Jr. A | 47 | 22 | 31 | 53 | 53 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Hokki | Mestis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | London Knights | OHL | 60 | 26 | 36 | 62 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
... [table continues with same data] ... |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"|Liiga totals !17 !!5 !!4 !!9 !!2 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"|NHL totals !119 !!14 !!28 !!42 !!28 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"|NL totals !77 !!16 !!40 !!56 !!34 !1 !!0 !!0 !!0 !!0 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"|SHL totals !43 !!18 !!26 !!44 !!12 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |}
International
| Year | Team | Event | Outcome | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Finland | U17 | 4th place | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | |
| 2015 | Finland | IH18 | Finished 4th | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WJC18 | Template:Gold1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2017 | Finland | WJC | Ranked 9th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Junior career totals | 24 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 16 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| AHL | ||
| All-Star Game | 2019 | |
| Calder Cup | 2019 | |